Guest: Open Lines with Dr. David Livingston. Topics: This was a wide ranging discussion on many space topics & related issues. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We talked about many topics and issues on this 2 hour 40 minute program. In the first segment, ITAR reform was discussed and Andrew of the Tea Party In Space in his discussion also advocated for the resumption of manufacturing Plutonium 238. We got caught off but he called back in the second segment. Charles called to advocate for small markets & an incremental approach. He continues working on Microlaunchers. John from Atlanta called to talk about strange lights over Detroit. We had a good time talking about the mysterious Detroit sightings which you can easily see pictures of & find out more if interested with a very simple Google search. John also wanted to talk about our recent advanced propulsion program about warp drive and interstellar physics. If you have not heard that program from Jan. 4, 2013, I strongly recommend you do listen to it. Space budget, economic and sequestration issues came up in this segment as well. We also talked about the bankruptcy sale of special battery company A123 to China and the fact that this includes sensitive military technology. Listeners expressed a variety of opinions about this matter. Perri provided us with this Forbes story on the matter: www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/12/12/china-wins-u-s-loses-in-a123-bankruptcy. I also read a PR statement from a group opposing the sale to China.

In our longer second segment, Andrew called back and we talked about economic issues in congress, SLS, Golden Spike, and building relationships with staffers in congress to better advocate for space. Tim called from Huntsville to tell us about the absurd PETA, Elon Musk and vegetarian issue arising about the food people will eat on Mars. You can read about it at these locations: http://rt.com/usa/news/space-mars-musk-people-595 and http://betabeat.com/2013/01/elon-musk-would-like-you-to-know-i-am-not-the-kale-eating-overlord-of-mars. Based on this story, we got several listener comments on PETA, Martian food, and space nutrition. In fact Doug called to say that he thought early Mars missions would likely be vegetarian just for mass and technical reasons. Our last caller was Perri who wanted to talk about the need to refurbish and bring back to life the excellent Colorado teaching planetarium, the Robert H. Johnson Planetarium in Jefferson County. Perri provided us with lots of good information on this planetarium and its refurbishment needs. She also talked about food consolidation problems in the U.S. and globally, plus a host of other matters, including the plutonium issue which was mentioned in the first segment. Here, she told us about the Rocky Flats Cold War Museum based on The Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant. The museum is also in Jefferson County, CO. For more information, visit www.rockyflatscoldwarmuseum.org. If you want to connect with Perri about the planetarium or any of the other issues she mentioned, you can email her through me.

You can also email all our callers through me at drspace@thespaceshow.com. Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog.

Guest: Tom Olson. Topics: The year 2012 is reviewed from the space perspective and we look forward to space development in 2013. Please direct all comments and questions regarding Space Show programs/guest(s) to the Space Show blog, https://thespaceshow.wordpress.com. Comments and questions should be relevant to the specific Space Show program. Written Transcripts of Space Show programs are a violation of our copyright and are not permitted without prior written consent, even if for your own use. We do not permit the commercial use of Space Show programs or any part thereof, nor do we permit editing, YouTube clips, or clips placed on other private channels & websites. Space Show programs can be quoted, but the quote must be cited or referenced using the proper citation format. Contact The Space Show for further information. We welcomed back Tom Olson for his annual Space Show year in review analysis with a look forward to 2013 for space development. We started our discussion by remembering those in our space community that are no longer with us. We specifically mentioned three dear friends though we know that others have also left us. Our program was dedicated to Neil Armstrong, Jesco von Puttkamer, and Reda Anderson. We certainly miss our friends but space development marches on like everything else in life. A few of the early issues Tom brought up in the 2012 annual overview of space included the Falcon 9 launches and Dragon missions. He also talked about ISDC and birthing of Dragon during the keynote by NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. While on the subject of SpaceX and its mission to the ISS, Paul sent in a question asking if SpaceX dropping out of the Stratolauncher project indicated that perhaps they had “bitten off more than they could chew.” Tom and I have no inside information about SpaceX and Stratolaunch but we both thought that Paul’s comment was reasonable as SpaceX is certainly busy enough with game changing projects & technology. Cubesats were discussed given their rise in popularity and importance in 2012. It seems as if their potential is more than on the rise! Cubesat growth also cuts across many diverse space industry segments and niche markets. Bev asked about the future of 3-D printing and its potential impact on future human spaceflight (HSF). 3-D printing is certainly experiencing space industry growth & there will soon be a small 3-D printer on the ISS. Heavy lift came up and much was said about the Falcon Heavy and SLS, both looking back over 2012 & forward to 2013.

In our second segment, I asked if fuel depots would evolve from the Power Point & rhetoric stage to something more tangible in 2013. We talked about depots as many of the projects announced in 2012 use depot technology to enable their plan. Tom talked about warp drive becoming more possible due to the 2012 work of Dr. Sonny White. Dr. White will be a guest on The Space Show Friday, January 4, 2013. Tom next brought up NASA budget issues & possible cuts. He talked about science mission cuts, the JWST, and on the HSF side, SLS eating up much of the budget with commercial crew still needing funding. I asked Tom how he thought space advocacy made out during 2012. Mixed was a one word summary of this discussion. Next, we talked about space settlement being made part of the U.S. space policy in 2013. Tom went over the pros & cons surrounding this effort. Doug called in about space settlement & I referred him to earlier programs with Steve Wolfe who authored the Space Settlement Act of 1988 which is part of public law. Tom said space settlement was SLS dependent & that makes the potential policy controversial to many space enthusiasts since many oppose SLS. Tom said 2012 was a good year for new commercial space grandiose missions such as Golden Spike, Planetary Resources, Mars One, a lunar base, Shackleton Energy, even EML2 missions. He kept asking the questions regarding objectives, who pays, the reasons for the missions, and more. He said most of these missions rely on some form of large launcher, either the Falcon Heavy SLS. Tom talked about ITAR reform that has been signed by both houses of Congress & is applicable to the U.S. satellite industry. Human rating of the Atlas came up for a 2012 progress report, then Dave in San Antonio inquired about cyber warfare & the space industry in 2012 & the future. 2012 marked the year the space shuttles went on display in museums & Tom talked about the Russian space program investments for modernization over the coming decade. He also talked about other national space programs. Near the end of our program, we brought up the Spaceport America liability issue & the risks facing the New Mexico spaceport. Tom updated us for 2013 on the NewSpace Business Plan Competition & his work with the Exodus Group for space business consulting.

Please post your comments/questions on The Space Show blog. You can email Tom through drspace@thespaceshow.com.